BAGUIO CITY – About 170 micro, small and medium enterprises(MSMEs) from the Cordillera will come together in Baguio City on September 21 to 22 to discuss issues and concerns affecting MSMEs in the region.
Dubbed as SME Summit, the event is spearheaded by the Regional SMED and the Department of Trade and Industry-CAR.
DTI-CAR Regional Director Myrna P. Pablo said the summit aims to provide a venue of knowledge sharing on opportunities for developing and resilient MSMEs. It is also expected that said summit will generate inputs and recommendations from local entrepreneurs for the crafting of a three-year MSME Development plan for the Cordillera Administrative Region for 2017-2022.
DTI Regional Operations Group Undersecretary Zenaida C. Maglaya will be the keynote speaker for the said event.
Other resource speakers will discuss the four outcome portfolios of MSME development. Dir. Jerry T. Clavesillas, the officer-in-Charge of DTI-BSMED, will discuss “Enabling Business Environment” and “Philippine MSME Development Program for 2017-2022”. The topic “Global Value Chain: Philippines’ Frontier to Trade and Investments for MSMEs” will be presented by Asst. Secretary Rafaelita Aldaba of the DTI-Industry Development Group as part of the first session on Enabling Business Environment.
On the second session of the first day, speakers will tackle the leveling up of “SME Competitiveness: Technological Innovations”. Speakers from the Department of Science and Technology will discuss “Advancing MSMEs with Science and Technology” and the Gabriela Women’s Association of Abra will share a testimonial as a partner for the Shared Service Facility program of DTI.
On September 22, the third session on Facilitating Market Access will have sub topics on “Food Safety Management System (Basic Food Hygiene and GMP)” by the Food and Drug Administration. Selected speakers from Baguio and Benguet will also share their best practices and an interactive question and answer portion will follow.
A session on “Innovative Financing” will have speakers from Landbank and Development Bank of the Philippines discuss their SME financing programs while the Small Business Corporation will likewise present their financial support to CAR’s Priority Industry Sectors./Art Tibaldo-DTI CAR
